Red Bulls Vs. Union, 2011 MLS: Full Time, New York Qualifies For Playoffs With Win

The New York Red Bulls were not at their absolute best on Thursday night, but thanks to some fight from their midfielders, a bit of fortunate refereeing, and a poor performance from the Philadelphia Union, they're into the MLS Cup playoffs after sealing a 1-0 win. The goal is a Faryd Mondragon own goal in the box score, but it was created by a Jan Gunnar Solli cross and a Dane Richards header. If it weren't for Mondragon's play, New York would have had more.

Philadelphia struggled to create chances in the first half, leading to two halftime substitutions. Danny Mwanga and Freddy Adu came on in place of Amobi Okugo and Zach Pfeffer - a couple of aggressive moves by Peter Nowak - but they failed to make the difference.

Luke Rodgers missed an absolute sitter in the 59th minute, and had he buried that or any of the number of chances he had, New York would have won by a convincing margin. Though Rafael Marquez was disappointing, the other three midfielders - especially Joel Lindpere - were fantastic. There's no question that New York were the better team on the evening.

However, Philadelphia can feel a little bit aggrieved. Sebastien Le Toux scored a goal on a direct free kick in the 66th minute, but the goal was waived off by the official. In the opinion of Mark Geiger, RBNY goalkeeper Frank Rost was impeded by an offside player. The call was questionable, to say the least.

New York are now in a Wild Card spot, while Philadelphia await the weekend results to learn their fate. They sit in a top-three spot for now, but good results by the Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo could drop them down into a wild card place.